Stolen Handgun Forensically Tied To Man Shot By Cops

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Investigators say that they have forensically tied a stolen handgun to the man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis Police in Uptown last year.

Terrance Franklin, 22, died in a shootout with Minneapolis Police officers on May 10, 2013, in Uptown. He was suspected of burglarizing a home the day before, pulled over by police the next day and fled. Franklin ended up running to a basement of a home, and that’s where he was shot to death by police.

Police said he took a gun from one officer and severely wounded two of them before being shot himself.

Last September, a grand jury exonerated Minneapolis Police officers involved in that struggle. However, attorney Michael Padden said that the police department’s version of what happened in that Uptown basement did not match the evidence. He claimed the shots were fired by one officer he says has a history of run-ins with black males.

Following the grand jury decision, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said, “Franklin had numerous opportunities to surrender, but it was clear by his actions, that from the beginning he had made the decision not to get caught at any cost.”

Police revealed Wednesday a homeowner who lives just a few blocks from where Franklin was killed discovered a gun stashed inside of a sock, which was wedged between the home’s foundation and the back porch. That sock tested positive for Franklin’s DNA, but there were no prints on the gun.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that Franklin’s DNA profile was found on the sock. The gun matched the one which was reported stolen from a home on the 400 block of Taylor Street Northeast the day before Franklin was shot. Police wouldn’t say positively if this gun is tied to the altercation that led to Franklin’s death back in May. The gun was discovered in October, and the DNA evidence was just revealed to police on Tuesday.

This gun wasn’t at the scene of Franklin’s death and changes nothing about the investigation or the status of the officers involved, but the police department said its sharing this with the public as an effort to remain transparent on a case that raised a lot of question and emotions.

“It’s part of the Minneapolis Police Department’s goals,” said Kris Arneson, deputy chief with the Minneapolis Police Department. “There’s been a lot of interest in this case and any time we have a case like this, the public is interested in it. I know you’re interested in it, our officers are interested in in. So we we want to put out as much information as we can.”

WCCO-TV spoke with Padden, who said Franklin’s family is suing the Minneapolis Police Department.